Adur () is a

local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, England. It is named after the

River Adur The Adur () is a river in Sussex, England; it gives its name to the Adur district of West Sussex. The river, which is long, was once navigable for large vessels up as far as Steyning, where there was a large Saxon port, but by the 11th centur ...

which flows through the area. The council is based in the town of

Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in the Adur District, Adur district, in the county of West Sussex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 20,547. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to ...

, and the district also contains the town of Southwick, the large village of Lancing and a modest rural hinterland inland. The district had a population of 64,626 at the 2021 census.

Sompting Sompting is a village and civil parish in the coastal Adur District of West Sussex, England between Lancing and Worthing. It is half grassland slopes and half developed plain at the foot of the South Downs National Park. Twentieth-century est ...

, Lancing, Shoreham and Southwick form a strip of settlements on the south coast, between

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

and

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

collectively known as the

Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton The Brighton and Hove Built-up area or Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation has a population of 474,485 (2011 census), making it England's 12th largest conurbation. This was an increase of around 3% from the 2001 population of 461,181. Na ...

conurbation.

Shoreham Airport Brighton City Airport , also commonly known as Shoreham Airport, is located in Lancing, West Sussex, Lancing near Shoreham by Sea in West Sussex, England. It has a Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom), CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence tha ...

is located in the Adur district, west of Shoreham-by-Sea and just east of Lancing. The Adur Festival is held in the first two weeks of June every year. The district lies on the south coast, and parts of its area lie within the

South Downs National Park The South Downs National Park is England's newest national parks of England and Wales, national park, designated on 31 March 2010. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in t ...

. The neighbouring districts are

, Arun,

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

and

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administe ...

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

. The new district covered the whole area of two former districts and parts of a third, which were all abolished at the same time: *

Urban District An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

* Southwick Urban District *

Worthing Rural District Worthing Rural District was a rural district in West Sussex, England from 1933 to 1974. It comprised an area to the north, west and east, but did not include the borough of Worthing. Its area encompassed the land in southern Sussex between th ...

(parishes of

Coombes Coombes is a small village and civil parish in the Adur District of West Sussex, England. The village is in the Adur Valley northwest of Shoreham-by-Sea. Coombes Church is an 11th-century Church of England parish church that has lost its ...

, Lancing and

only, rest went to Arun) The new district was named Adur after the River Adur which flows through the area and reaches the sea at Shoreham. Since 2008 Adur District Council has worked in partnership with neighbouring

Worthing Borough Council Worthing Borough Council is the local authority for Worthing in West Sussex, England. Worthing is a non-metropolitan district with borough status. It forms the lower tier of local government in Worthing, responsible for local services such as h ...

, as

Adur and Worthing Councils Adur & Worthing Councils refers to two local government bodies, Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council, in West Sussex, England, who have operated under a joint management structure, with a single Chief Executive A chief executive ...

, sharing a joint management structure, with a single chief executive.

Governance

Adur District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by

West Sussex County Council West Sussex County Council is the upper tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex in England. The county also contains seven district and borough councils, and 158 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county c ...

. Parts of the district are covered by

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since the 2024 election. The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: (Put "Adur" in search box to see specific results.)

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2000 have been:

Composition

Following the 2024 election and a subsequent change of allegiance in July 2024, the composition of the council was: Two of the independent councillors sit together as the "Shoreham Beach Residents' Association" group. The next election is due in 2026.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2004 the council has comprised 29

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s representing 14

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, with each ward electing two councillors except Widewater, which elects three. Elections are held in alternate years for roughly half the council each time to serve a four year term of office.

Premises

The council is based at the Shoreham Centre on Pond Road, which was built in the 1970s as a community centre but was substantially extended in 2015 to also serve as the council's meeting place and offices. Prior to 2015 the council was based at the Civic Centre on Ham Road, Shoreham, which was subsequently demolished. Adur population pyramid

Towns and parishes

There are three

es in the district, being Coombes, Lancing, and Sompting. Coombes has a

parish meeting A parish meeting is a meeting all the electors in a civil parish in England are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish council, with ...

rather than a parish council due to its low population. The rest of the district, corresponding to the area of the pre-1974 urban districts of Shoreham-by-Sea and Southwick, is an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

Sports clubs

Lancing F.C. Lancing Football Club is a football club based in Lancing, West Sussex, England. They are members of the and play at Culver Road. History The club was established in 1941, initially as a multi-sport club under the name Lancing Athletic.

* Shoreham F.C. * Southwick F.C. * Lancing Utd F.C.

Media

In terms of television, Adur is served by

BBC South East BBC South East is the BBC English region serving Kent, East Sussex (including the City of Brighton and Hove), parts of West Sussex and Surrey. The BBC region was created in September 2001 by the joining of the Heathfield transmitter (former ...

and

ITV Meridian ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at midnight on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned ...

broadcasting from the

Whitehawk Hill Whitehawk Hill is a Local Nature Reserve in Brighton, East Sussex. It is owned and managed by Brighton and Hove City Council. At the top of the hill is Whitehawk Camp, a Neolithic causewayed enclosure which is a Scheduled Monument. This is s ...

transmitter. Radio stations for the area are

BBC Radio Sussex BBC Radio Sussex is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of East and West Sussex. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Queens Road in Brighton. According to RAJAR, BBC Radio Surrey and BBC R ...

Heart South Heart South is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to the south and south east of England. The station launched on 3 June 2019 as a result of a merger between four sister stations: H ...

Capital Brighton Capital Brighton was a local radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Capital radio network. It served the Brighton and Hove area broadcasting on 107.2 FM and across Sussex on DAB. In April 2019, the station was merged ...

More Radio Worthing More Radio Worthing (known as Splash FM from 2003 to 2016), is an Independent Local Radio station serving Worthing, Shoreham, Littlehampton and surrounding areas. It is owned and operated by Total Sense Media and broadcasts from Total Sense Me ...

and

Seaside Hospital Radio Seaside Hospital Radio (known until 2004 as Radio Southlands) is a Hospital Radio service broadcasting to both Worthing and Southlands Hospitals in West Sussex, England from a studio site in Shoreham by Sea. The hospitals are considered to ...

that broadcast from the

Southlands Hospital Southlands Hospital is a medical facility based in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England, which serves people living in Shoreham itself as well as Worthing and other towns and villages along the south coast and in the inland areas of West Sussex. ...

in Shoreham. Local newspapers are the ''Shoreham Herald'', ''West Sussex Gazette'' and '' The Argus''.

Twin towns

Adur is twinned with *

Żywiec Żywiec () is a town on the River Soła in southern Poland with 31,194 inhabitants (2019). It is situated within the Silesian Voivodeship, near the Żywiec Lake and Żywiec Landscape Park, one of the eight protected areas in the voivodeship. H ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Riom Riom (; Auvergnat ''Riam'') is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. History Until the French Revolution, Riom was the capital of the province of Auvergne, and the ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Climate

Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

subtype for this climate is "

Cfb CFB may refer to: *College football, in the United States *Canadian Forces base, military installation of the Canadian forces * Caminho de Ferro de Benguela, railway in Angola *Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District *Cipher feedback, ...

" (Marine West Coast Climate/

Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

).Climate Summary for Adur, UK
/ref>

References

External links

Adur District Council

A record of all the election results in Adur District since its creation until 2012
{{Coord, 50.8326, N, 0.2689, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Non-metropolitan districts of West Sussex